What are office hours for? What do students talk about in office hours?
To first-years, office hours can be intimidating and unapproachable. However, office hours are really not as daunting as one would imagine! Every professor is required to have office hours each week, and they are usually very enthusiastic about students visiting them during these times. Although most discussions revolve around clarifying class material, office hours can also be used to reach out to professors. For instance, talking to a professor about how they got into their field, or what current research they’re doing is entirely appropriate. Professors will probably be willing to talk about anything, as long as a line of people isn’t waiting to also speak with them. If there is a line when you get there, people usually wait in the hall and take turns. It would be especially wise to go to office hours before an exam or before a paper is due to make sure you are on the right track.
